How to install Linked Helper on a VPS / self-managed dedicated server with Ubuntu OS – Linked Helper

Ubuntu can be installed either on VPS or on a dedicated server depending on your needs. For example, a self-managed dedicated server is a good choice if you want to manage many (6 or more) LinkedIn accounts. For a smaller amount of Linked in accounts, a VPS should be enough, just make sure it meets hardware requirements. This article can help marketers to build an army of robots that will be working 24 / 7.

Check these links for instructions on how to rent a VPS / dedicated server on Windows:

More information on hardware requirements, comparison of self-managed dedicated server vs VPS, and Ubuntu vs Windows Server 2019 can be found here.

In this particular example, I rent a VPS. Instructions for a dedicated server would be the same.

Rent a server
Set up a remote connection between your PC and server / VPS on Ubuntu
Install Linked Helper on Ubuntu server

The instruction below assumes that you have neither Ionos nor a Linked Helper 2 account.

Rent a server

Open https://www.ionos.com/servers/vps
Choose the optimal option and click Configure. In this particular case, I will use one LinkedIn account so the VPS L is the optimal choice according to hardware requirements:

Configure your VPS:
- Operating system: Linux.
- System and version management system: If you've chosen Linux, then at this step you need to choose Ubuntu 20.04. Linked Helper works on Ubuntu, but other GNU/Linux distributions like Debian or CentOS are not supported, and even if you have managed to install Linked Helper there we cannot guarantee it will flawlessly work on them.
- Data Center location: as per your wish. I chose Germany for test purposes and because it's the nearest location to me.
- Cloud backup: you can add automatic backups, but in my case, they are not needed.
- Click Continue

Double-check your Cart and if everything is OK click Continue again:

Create a new Ionos account (if you already have an Ionos account, you can use it):

I chose the second option to create a new account:

Fill in the payment details and finish your order.
Later you may need to verify your identity by providing relevant documents to the Ionos security team.

Set up a remote connection between your PC and server / VPS on Ubuntu

Open cloud panel

Once the procedure of verification is finished, you will receive a confirmation letter. Follow the link in the letter or you can simply open My Ionos web page and choose the product:

You will be redirected to the Ionos Cloud panel. Go to Infrastructure => Servers

Choose your Server to see more details. You can check the server's status, IP address, Backup if you purchased that option, etc:

Connect to Ubuntu via KVM Console

In order to do that, please:

Choose your server and click the Actions button:
Click Access KVM console:
You will be redirected to the console webpage where you should see a console prompt: If you see some text that looks like a mess of unreadable code (see screenshot below), click the Send Ctrl+Alt+Del button in the upper right corner to reboot the server:
In the console, log in under the default root user, i.e. enter the user name (root in my case) and it's password (Initial Password you have in the cloud panel below User): Please, note that you won't see asterisks as you usually do when typing the password, but this is standard behavior in Ubuntu and other Linux distributions, so just type the password in and press enter button:
Once you're logged in, you will see a command prompt like in the screenshot below.

Linked Helper 2 needs GUI (Graphical User Interface) to be installed, but Ubuntu Server 20.04 comes with no GUI, so you need to install one first.

Install GUI (Graphical User Interface)

In order to do that, please, execute the following commands:
- enter sudo apt-get update and press enter button, wait till it's finished:
- enter sudo tasksel install ubuntu-desktop and press enter button, wait till it's finished, then reboot the machine by clicking the Send Ctrl+Alt+Del button in the upper right corner:
GUI is installed and you should have already being logged in via graphical user interface, so you now should configure your server:
Choose language:
I prefer to disable determining my location:
Choose your timezone (you can change the timezone for each Linked Helper instance individually here - Settings menu):
I do not need an account now, so I skip it:
Here is the important part. You need to create a user under which you will manage the remote server:
Save the password somewhere safe:
Click Start Using Ubuntu to proceed:

Install Linked Helper on Ubuntu server

Once you're successfully logged in via GUI, you need to install Linked Helper the same way you do that on a local PC:

Open Firefox browser, navigate to our website, and click Login:
Create a new account or log in into an already existing one:
Click Download the app in the upper left corner:
You will be redirected to the Downloads page. Click Install for Ubuntu to see the list of commands:
Click Show Applications, find and open Terminal:
Copy the first command and paste the first command into the Terminal, enter your user password (the one you created during setup after the GUI was installed), no asterisks will be displayed as in the case when we first logged in:

Copy and paste the second command:
Copy and paste the third command. You will see a warning once it is executed, but you can ignore it:
Copy and paste the forth command. Once it is completed, Linked Helper is installed:
Click Show Applications, find and open Linked Helper 2:
Log in to your LInked Helper account:
Add a LinkedIn account as per this article: LinkedIn Accounts menu (p. Add a new LinkedIn account)
If you already worked with Linked Helper on another PC, you can move the data from the local PC to VPS if needed: How to backup & restore your Linked Helper data